The Foreign Secretary was accused of making "wild and inappropriate remarks" after suggesting French President Francois Hollande was threatening "punishment beatings" while he was on a visit to India.

He said: "If Monsieur Hollande wants to administer punishment beatings to anyone who chooses to escape, rather in the manner of some World War Two movie, then I don't think that's the way forward.

"It's not in the interests of our friends or our partners."

But Downing Street officials backed Mr Johnson's right to use "theatrical language" when talking about the forthcoming Brexit negotiations and denied suggestions he was likening the French president to a Nazi guard at a PoW camp.

EPA

Boris Johnson spoke out yesterday amid a war of words

Labour and the Lib Dems attempted to whip a row about Mr Johnson's words yesterday.

A senior Labour spokesman said: "We are all aware that the Foreign Secretary has a habit of making wild and inappropriate comments.

"Talking about World War Two in that context is another one of those and that is not going to be something that is going to improve the climate for this negotiation."

Asked whether Mr Johnson should apologise, the Labour spokesman said: "That's a matter for the Foreign Secretary, but I don't think threats or wild comparisons and analogies are going to help the negotiations."

Labour MP Wes Streeting, a supporter of the Open Britain campaign, said: "It seems the Foreign Secretary has been leafing through his well-thumbed copy of How To Lose Friends And Alienate People."

And Lib Dem leader Tim Farron, who is leading a drive to sabotage Brexit, said: "This is an utterly crass and clueless remark from the man who is supposed to be our chief diplomat."

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Continued cooperation with the EU to tackle terrorism and international crime.

In Strasbourg Mr Verhofstadt branded the comments "abhorrent".

The Prime Minister’s spokeswoman dismissed the complaints as a "hyped-up media report".

"He was making a point," she said of the Foreign Secretary. "He was in no way suggesting that anyone was a Nazi."